India set a record in 2022 by receiving over USD 111 billion in remittances. India becomes the first nation to surpass the USD 100 billion mark. According to the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) 2024 World Migration Report.
What is a remittance?
Remittances are payments made by migrants to their families or communities back home, either in cash or in-kind transfers. These transfers are now the main source of foreign income for many developing economies after growing significantly in recent years.
Top recipients of international remittance
According to the report, China, India, Mexico, the Philippines, and France were the top five recipients of remittances in 2022.
With a large number of migrant workers, South Asia, especially India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, remains one of the world's top recipients of international remittances.
India saw almost ten fold jump in inflows of international remittances from USD 12.9 in the year 2000 to USD 111.2 billion in 2022.
After India, Mexico stood in second place with USD 61.1 billion, next in line for internatinal remittance is china with USD 51 billion. Phillipines claimed fourth place in remittance inflows with USD 38 billion. France taking the ffith spot with USD 30 billlion
Bangladesh came in at number eight and Pakistan at number six in 2022, with Bangladesh taking home about USD 21.5 billion and Pakistan almost USD 30 billion.
Total Remittance
The World Bank estimated in 2020 that COVID-19 would cause a 20% decline in global remittance figures; however, the actual decline was only 2.4%.
Among other reasons, the unexpected trend was partially attributed to a move from unofficial to official channels in response to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Since the mid-1990s, foreign remittances have continuously surpassed official development assistance levels, which are government grants intended to advance the welfare and economic development of developing nations.
The report states that international remittances have recovered from the year 2022 that was impacted by the pandemic. International remittances were projected to reach $831 billion globally, up from $791 billion in 2021 and much higher than $717 billion in 2020.
